VOTES FOR YOUNG WOMEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18950, 23 February 1925, Page 9

VOTES FOR YOUNG WOMEN

DEBATE IN THE COMMONS*] PRIVATE MEASURE KILLER GOVERNMENT BUX LATER. 1 By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright (Received 5.5 p.m;) A. and N.Z.—Router. LONDON. Feb The equality of the sexes in regard' to the Parliamentary franchise was dis- 1 cussed in the House of Commons to-day > during the debate on the notion for the, second reading of the Representation of the People Bill (a Labour member's private measure), providing .for- .the enfranchisement of all women "aged 21 and 1 upwards on the same terms &S MSK* The mover of the motion, Mr. Wj Whiteley, Labour member for Durham.l (Blaydon), argued against the Govern-*' merit's contention that the bill woul&j necessarily mean a general election imme-«j diately. v. , Mr. Whiteley suggested that, as all thai parties were agreed upon the genera Li principle of the bill, it should be passed?! on the understanding that it would noW be used until the next general election*! He ported out that adult franchise fowl women prevailed in New Zealand, Ausi! tralia, and the Irish Free State. Miss E. Wilkinson, Labour member foi?j Middlesbrough, seconded the motion. Mr. Arthur Henderson, Labour mem-»j ber for Burnley, supported the bill and Mr. Whiteley's suggestion. He also sug«j gested that the Speaker should preside at a conference concerning the measuro on the questions of redistribution, the costt of elections and corrupt practices. Attitude of the Government. The Secretary of State for Home Mr. W. Joynson-Hicks, moved a Gov*j ernment amendment for the rejection o£ the bill on the ground that it won Id in*' volve a general election and consequently the interruption of important legislative and administrative work. The amendment asked members to place on record that they considered a scheme of franchise. ra-< form should be submitted to the House within the lifetime of the present Parlia* ment> - The Minister said that if the bill were passed women voters would be in a majority of 2.000,000 over tho men voters, instead of in a minority of 2,000,000 as they were at present. The Government intendod to carry out its pledge to give equal political rights to men aud women. It desired to do this by agreement, and would have a conference of all the parties. , -This would be followed by a redistribution. Second Beading Defeated. Captain Wedgcwood Benn, Liberal mem-* ber for Leith, said the Liberals unanimously favoured the bill. He asserted that the Government was evading its pledge in regard to equal rights for thoi sexes at the age of 21. Mr. Joynson-Hicks, in replying to & question, expressed the opiniou; that the conference should be established in 1926 to consider all the questions involved, | and that a bill should be introduced in 1927. Lady Astor, Conservative member for Plymouth, announced that she would vota for the bill. Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald. Leader of tho Labour Party, in supporting the bill, said. he thought the Government intended to: "wangle" the franchise. He said that! to lower the voting age for women to 25 and to increase it for men to 25 would' be an unholy transaction. ~ ~ j The second reading of the bill was de-j feated by 220 votes to 163. Mr. Joynson- j Hicks' amendment was then carried. Women Members Create Pan. ** The women members of the House pro-] vided the most lively passages iti the de-l bate. They kept the House in roars of i laughter. .. - - Lady Astor deplored tha~ Ministry, "butting in" on a private bitt. It was 1 not usual, she said, and it put many oft the Government's supporters in a difficult! position. It was annoying that, those who] did not represent live constituencies should come to t'he House and do things which put the whole party "in.the soup." Women felt they had been "let- down'* ' by all the parties. Miss Wilkinson said it was the old cry that if young women were enfranchised they would vote for the best-looking can** didates. Scrutinising the benches, however, she could not see "any need for anxiety on that score. A Labour member interjected: "A good many of them must have worn masks." Mr. Mac Donald said the most pathetic , figure in the Hons© was that of Lady Astor, marooned on a small rock and surrounded by a sea of "dead-heads."' He promised the Ministry that Labour would' not yield an inch. The Prime Minister, Mr. Stanley Bali- 'j win, said he could not think of accepting a private member's bill on a subject on which the Ministry intended to legislate.